York edges New Kent 2-1, forging way atop district softball standings

Batchelor's catch, Rogerson's pitching critical for 8-1 team

YORK — York High will make the turn to the second half of the Bay Rivers District softball season in first place. Not bad for a team picked sixth in the preseason.

The Falcons took sole possession of the top spot with a 2-1 win against New Kent on Tuesday in their showdown for first place. The Falcons (8-1 overall, 8-1 district) won by displaying the same traits that have served them so well throughout the first half: better-than-expected pitching, clutch hitting and defense and lots of competitiveness.

Take senior center fielder Lia Batchelor. She led off the York first inning with a triple and scored on a grounder to give her team a 1-0 lead. But, after she was denied a second hit in the bottom of the fifth by New Kent left fielder Alura Evans' diving catch, Batchelor denied the Trojans a run with her more spectacular, long running catch at the center-field fence in the top of the sixth. It was a key play because the game was tied at 1 at the time.

"That motivated me to get to the ball," Batchelor said of Evans' catch. "I busted my butt to get to it."

Her catch inspired her teammates, who produced what would be the winning run in the bottom of the sixth. Sophomore Tiffany Kelly doubled with two outs, scoring from second when New Kent shortstop Paige Simpson threw low and past the first baseman in a belated attempt to keep Katie Russell from reaching safely on her slow roller.

"We didn't hit well today, but they figured it out and put it together when they needed to put it together," York coach Amy Hunter said.

Pitching was a preseason question mark. But sophomore Molly Rogerson put together another solid outing similar to the one she used to beat Grafton in a previous first-place battle.

New Kent scratched out eight hits on Rogerson, with Emily Angle doubling and Madison Beasley driving her in with a single to tie the game at 1 in the top of the second. Otherwise, Rogerson was able to deliver the big pitches the three ensuing times the Trojans (7-2, 6-2) got runners to third base.

"When people start hitting off of me, I kind of think I've got to rein it in and focus on putting the ball where I need to on the inside or outside," Rogerson said. "Like always, my fastball and dropball were working, and then the change-up.

"We never throw that."

Rogers used a dropball to get Simpson to ground the ball back to her for the game-ending out. Dani Foster and Peyton Fleming had threatened Rogers a final time immediately before that, hitting back-to-back singles.

"I'm very happy," Hunter said when asked about her team's performance in the first half of the season. "I love this team on and off the field.